Settle down, tune into Parliament's livestream, and clutch your bank balances tightly as Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba delivers his maiden budget speech. The budget speech lays out the government's expenditure road map for the year ahead, and is definitely as important as the State of the Nation Address. And judging by media chatter prior to the speech, this one likely won't go without drama. The 2018 Budget Speech begins at 2pm today The EFF have threatened to boycott the speech if President Cyril Ramaphosa does not sack Gigaba. Additionally, Gigaba -- who enjoyed a wonderful game of Candy Crush while the new SA...
After what was a remarkably civil Friday in Parliament for SONA 2018, members are back in the house today to debate President Cyril Ramaphosa's SONA 2018. We can almost guarantee that the likes of Mmusi Maimane, Julius Malema and the rest of the opposition will have lots to say. (And everyone on the below list too). Live at 10am, Joint Sitting Debate on the State of the Nation Address #SONADebate #SONA2018 . Watch on ParliamentTV #DSTV408 pic.twitter.com/EUptgH9Tti — Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA) February 19, 2018 Catch the live Parliamentary stream on YouTube below, and budget about three hours of your day to enjoy...
We've had to wait a few extra days, but tonight South Africans will finally receive a State of the Nation Address (SONA) from its President, albeit not the one they've enjoyed for nearly a decade. Newly-elected President Cyril Ramaphosa will begin his speech at 7pm tonight (if the EFF behave), after the pomp and ceremony that most of us have come to enjoy. Watch Cyril Ramaphosa's first SONA as the President of South Africa below But for those who are working late or don't have access to television coverage, Parliament's always-entertaining YouTube channel has already primed its livestream for viewing. At the moment...
It's been a confusing few weeks in South African politics, but today President Jacob Zuma finally shed some light on the speculation surrounding his future. The ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) -- the party's highest decision making bracket -- agreed Tuesday that the party would recall Zuma as leader of the nation after a marathon meeting Monday. "The decision by the NEC to recall its deployee was taken only after exhaustive discussion on the impact such a recall would have on the country, the ANC and the functioning of government," wrote ANC secretary general Ace Magashule in a...
You know the Winter Olympics is happening when "curling" is one of the most searched for sports in South Africa. Apart from the disappointing cricket yesterday, this week South Africans are trying to figure out what this sport involving a stone, an ice rink and a bunch of people with broom-like prods is all about. Thankfully, we've found a video that does just that. With 13 000 subscribers, Curling Canada is probably not a YouTube channel you'd subscribe to immediately, but it does a splendid job making the sport itself interesting. Who knew curling could be so fun to watch? And it's not...
News bloopers are ideal fodder for YouTube, aren't they? Between the famous grape stomping lady and Nhlanhla Nene's dodgy chair, there have been plenty of memorable bloopers over the years. So what stood out in 2017? News Be Funny has the answer in the form of a 15-minute compilation, covering all the major flubs of the year. Check it out below.
Uber's first advertisement highlighting the plight of commuters in southeast Asia may just trigger a nerve for those stuck in traffic in Cape Town and Johannesburg daily. Filmed in Bangkok with 200-odd extras, the company's ad trades automobiles for Flintstone-inspired box cars. But that doesn't mean there's any less chaos. From drivers stealing parking spots, to others cutting in ahead of lanes, to those select few who believe one-ways are in fact safe for bidirectional traffic: the video is practically what every road user experiences every day. Perhaps with less cardboard. While the ad is undoubtedly stupid, remarkably silly and deliberately extra,...
You must be so sick of hearing about Cape Town's water crisis right now. But it's a huge problem -- and a potential catastrophe -- that isn't about to go away at the snap of a finger. We've seen dam levels gradually rise since June, however five months later, some have yet to breach the 50% mark. The largest dam in the system -- the massive Theewaterskloof -- has yet to breach 30% of its total storage. Considering that plans to augment the surface storage with ground water extraction, desalination and water reuse are still plans, this summer is set to...
Thanks to the internet, human beings are forced to endure pain and suffering on a scale we were never built to comprehend. But out of this pain comes goodness -- and the internet is good for that too. Case in point: this viral video of a dog being reunited with her family after she went missing during the California wildfires that have so far taken the lives of 40 people. According to Beckyjean Widen, who posted the story to Facebook, her parents' dog Izzy ran away during the confusion of evacuation, and her mother was unable to chase after her without risking her...
American recording trio Major Lazer may have been slammed in the past for making coin from cultural appropriation, but its latest track brings out the best in South Africa's and Nigeria's music and cinematography scene. Co-produced by South Africa's DJ Maphorisa, and starring SA rapper Nasty C, and Nigerian artists Ice Prince, and Pantoranking, "Particula" is a reggae banger that this week received the music video treatment. Said video was also directed by Cape Town-based Adriaan Louw. "Particula" does not feature Table Mountain however, but rather the Hillbrow Tower. Major Lazer's 'Particula' is filmed in Johannesburg, but features both Nigerian and South...
The late winter months see thousands of tourists flock to the Western Cape coastal town of Hermanus to catch a glimpse of its returning celebrities: the southern right whales. The mammals head back to the town's Walker Bay to mate and calve, and put on a bit of a show for the locals. Sometimes, this show is captured by a drone whirling away overhead. And in this case, photographer Luke Maximo Bell was at the controls. "I used a drone to capture these majestic creatures as best as I possibly could! It was an incredible experience to see them play and...
The last week in trailers promoted A-list faces in highly-anticipated movies, so grab some popcorn because there's bound to be something in this list that gets you hype. The Shape of Water The red-band trailer for Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water has been released, and, no, there isn't any inter-species fish sex, I'm sorry to say. The "other-worldly fairy tale" is set in Cold War-era America, and tells of a lonely mute woman whose life changes when she discovers a top secret "asset" in the form of an alien fish-man. It stars Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Shannon, and hits South African...
There were plenty trailers released last week, so to make your weekly catch-up simpler I've split them up into very formal categories for you to peruse. Let's get to it. The mainstreams Fifty Shades Freed It feels like Fifty Shades Darker came out yesterday, but the films were shot back-to-back last year and I guess they're looking to cash in before everyone forgets who Mr Grey even is. This teaser doesn't do much more than let you know they're married and that Christian Grey thinks he respects Ana. It's a naivete that's neither cute nor deplorable. The trilogy ends Valentine's Day next year. The Current War With every invention that threatens to upend society...
A short film directed by South African director Michael Matthews has won the prestigious Short of the Week -- and it's got some tongues wagging. Based on Charlie Human's urban-fantasy novel Apocalypse Now Now, the short serves as proof-of-concept for an upcoming feature film written by District 9 writer Terri Tatchell. It tells of Capetonian schoolboy/porn-dealer Baxter Zevcenko whose dream girl Esme is kidnapped, ostensibly by supernatural forces. Enlisting the help of "Cape Town's finest, drunkest bounty hunter", he embarks on a mission to fight some monsters and get her back. The public release of the proof-of-concept short, Tatchell told The Verge, is to bring in good feedback from...
Do you know that ants with big heads are soldiers and that smaller ants are voyagers? Eight-year-old Aiden the Zoologist does, and he's ready to share even more of his animal knowledge with the world. Aiden wowed Twitter last month when he passionately explained the wonders of tree bark and beetles to his older sister -- and now he's got his own YouTube channel to show us all what it's like to be young and curious and so damn smart. My brother is an animal genius and wanted me to share it w you guys. He titles this: Trees danger and other...
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